Counsels for the Church - Ellen G. White

Chapter 23
The Mother and Her Child
Instead of sinking into a mere household drudge, let the wife and mother
take time to read, to keep herself well informed, to be a companion to her
husband, and to keep in touch with the developing minds of her children. Let
her use wisely the opportunities now hers to influence her dear ones for the
higher life. Let her take time to make the dear Saviour a daily Companion
and familiar Friend. Let her take time for the study of His word, take time to
go with the children into the fields and learn of God through the beauty of
His works.
Let her keep cheerful and buoyant. Instead of spending every moment in
endless sewing, make the evening a pleasant social season, a family reunion
after the day's duties. Many a man would thus be led to choose the society of
his home before that of the clubhouse or the saloon. Many a boy would be
kept from the street or the corner grocery. Many a girl would be saved from
frivolous, misleading associations. The influence of the home would be to
parents and children what God designed it should be, a lifelong blessing.
The question is often asked, "Shall a wife have no will of her own?" The
Bible plainly states that the husband is the head of the family. "Wives,
submit yourselves unto your own husbands." If this injunction ended here,
we might say that the position of the wife is not an enviable one; it is a very
hard and trying position in very many cases, and it would be better were
there fewer marriages. Many husbands stop at the words, "Wives, submit
yourselves," but we will read the conclusion of the same injunction, which is.
"As it is fit in the Lord."
God requires that the wife shall keep the fear and glory of God ever
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